Jason Miller: Bon Appétit, America

Satiating a Gnawing Hunger for Vengeance

Throughout Bush’s tenure in the White House, our Commander in Chef and his staff of gourmets have prepared a veritable smorgasbord of propagandistic delights for the psyches of those who still cling to the myth of America’s innate superiority.

American Exceptionalism is a pathological fiction which our wealthy and corporate elites have cynically employed for years to justify their acts of imperialism, exploitation, enslavement, and genocide. America’s current regime has taken this rationalization for crimes against humanity to new heights.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s death is the latest Haute cuisine to emerge from the perverse kitchen of America’s ruling elite. Bush’s sub-30% approval rating indicated that the minds of America’s masses were starving for propaganda to realign their thinking.

Strauss’s disciples responded with a particularly delicious meal. On 6/8/06 George Bush presided over the execution of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. A butcher of over a hundred thousand human beings sentenced a murderer of a relative handful of people to die by explosion. American justice was served, ladies and gentlemen.

"Father, we thank you for providing us with this blessed bounty which will satisfy our wretched masses’ ravenous appetite for violence, drama, revenge, and evidence of their righteousness. And bless Israel, the World Bank, Tony Blair, and Fox News. Amen."

While the Neocons and their bellicose supporters are thanking their God for bestowing the blessing of Zarqawi’s execution upon America and the “free world”, this killjoy sees very little cause for celebration.

Isn't it obvious that we're winning?

Proudly displaying their macabre trophy picture of Zarqawi, the US military and its hand-maidens in the mainstream media now have “tangible proof” that America is succeeding in the “War on Terror”. Never mind that Osama bin Laden, a man who walks with a cane and survives on dialysis, is still at large nearly five years after 9/11. Forget the fact that many of the “terrorists” exist as reactionaries to unwavering American support of the ruthless Israeli squatters in Palestine and cruel tyrants like the Shah of Iran. Disregard the knowledge that the Iraqi Resistance shows little or no sign of relenting, despite the staggering human and financial toll the invasion has taken on the United States.

Marvel at our humanity...

Speaking about Zarqawi on behalf of the invading US forces, Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters at the Pentagon on Friday via a video link from Baghdad, Iraq:

"Despite the fact that this person actually had no regard for human life, we were not going to treat him in the same manner. And so, they did clean his face up for the shots that were shown publicly."

How humane of them to clean up their trophy before displaying it to the public. Did they also cleanse their victims in Fallujah or Haditha? If you are going to kill someone, you can at least have the human decency to clean them up afterwards.

The buck doesn't stop on his desk...

Noted for his unfettered presentation of the truth, Mike Whitney recently wrote a piece concerning the mainstream media complex’s complicity in perpetuating the Iraqi Occupation. Mike opined:

“The bloody footprints from Haditha lead straight to the corporate headquarters at Time Warner and FOX News. They are every bit as guilty as anyone who served in Kilo Company.”

While the mainstream media system is certainly awash in the blood of over 40,000 Iraqi civilians, 2500 US military personnel, and the hapless victims of Haditha, Fallujah and scores of other My Lai-like atrocities throughout Iraq, the largest set of bloody footprints leads directly to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Despite the fact that he is too pusillanimous to do his own bidding, our self-proclaimed “Decider” bears the ultimate responsibility for tens of thousands of brutal deaths and severe injuries.

Reeking with his usual fetid stench of hypocrisy, on 6/8 Bush crowed:

"Zarqawi personally beheaded American hostages and other civilians in Iraq. Now Zarqawi has met his end and this violent man will never murder again."

George Bush may have little interest in studying the complexities of humanity or the world, but he ranks as one of the foremost aficionados of murder and revenge. As governor of Texas, he presided over 36 of the 98 executions perpetrated by the entire United States in 1999. He demonstrated the depths of his sadistic depravity when he openly mocked Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman Texas had executed since the Civil War.

In further remarks concerning Zarqawi’s death, Bush stated:

"The ideology of terror has lost one of its most visible and aggressive leaders. Zarqawi's death is a severe blow to al Qaeda."

Let’s take a moment to dissect the propaganda.

Note how Bush characterized terror as an ideology rather than a coercive means of achieving political change. Portraying terror as a sociopolitical system proliferated by adherents dedicated to usurping Capitalism and “democracy”, America’s sacred cows, keeps many Americans sold on a perpetual war.

With the “threat” of the spread of Communism (a true ideology) virtually extinguished, the Machiavellian leaders of the United States crafted a “new and improved” amorphous and ubiquitous enemy. Virtually anyone opposing their ideologies of Capitalism, Fascism, and Zionism are cast as “terrorists”.

Bush cast the die shortly after 9/11 when he quickly moved to implant a false dichotomy in the shaken and vulnerable collective American psyche:

“You are either with us or you are against us in the fight against terror.”

Continuing with the analysis of Bush’s remarks concerning Zarqawi, consider his assertion that the United States struck a severe blow against al Qaeda. This is simply laughable. Zarqawi will become a martyr. Scores of radical Islamic militants will trip over themselves to take his place. And devastating retaliations are a virtual certainty in the seething cauldron of rage and hatred America has created in the Middle East.

Can you say moral quagmire?

Iraqi Resistance fighters are struggling to expel foreign invaders who are slaughtering innocent civilians. While their videotaped executions, roadside bombs, and attacks on Iraqi civilians are heinous and despicable, how is it that America has the moral high ground?

Let’s review for a moment. Bush’s doctrine of pre-emptive war, the non-existent WMD’s, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, Fallujah, Haditha, the use of depleted uranium… On second thought, the United States appears to be miring itself in moral quicksand.

Who is better off with Zarqawi dead?

While it is true that a sociopathic religious fanatic is dead, the equally conscienceless imperial invaders who provoked his reactionary violence continue to decimate Iraq and abet the Palestinian Genocide, creating a whole new generation of Zarqawis.

Cheney, Halliburton, the Carlyle Group, Israel, and many other beneficiaries of the “War on Terror” can hang their hats on the “success” of killing Zarqawi as they justify perpetuating American oppression and war crimes in the Middle East.

Aside from an excuse to continue the war, Zarqawi’s execution yields yet another nugget for the ruling elite at America’s helm. Bush Regime propagandists in the mainstream media are trumpeting that cell phone technology yielded the intelligence that located Zarqawi. What could better justify Bush’s trampling of the Bill of Rights? Look what the NSA can do once that goddamn piece of paper is out of the way!

And then there are the Congressional elections in 2006, which could favor the war-mongers and further cement their power now that they have achieved a "major victory".

Mighty America pursued Zarqawi for two years with 140,000 well-equipped personnel at its disposal and a $25 million reward on his head before finally bringing him to “justice”. Zarqawi’s death on 6/8/06 simply provides further evidence of the increasing impotence and self-destructiveness of the United States.

Revenge is indeed a dish best served cold. A chilled platter now sets before you, America. As you savor each bite, remember the devastating cost of preparing this truly grotesque repast.

Jason Miller is a 39 year old sociopolitical essayist with a degree in liberal arts and an extensive self-education (derived from an insatiable appetite for reading). He is a member of Amnesty International and an avid supporter of Oxfam International and Human Rights Watch. He welcomes responses at willpowerful@hotmail.com or comments on his blog, Thomas Paine's Corner, at http://civillibertarian.blogspot.com/.

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